Duty Now That It's The Future: DEVO Look Back To The Beginning

In most any fictional exercise, the most satisfying stories always involve struggle and triumph. Tales of humble beginnings that hit utter despair before new strength and vision are gained for the groundbreaking innovation and/or world conquering ahead. Best selling non-fiction is no different either. Basically, people love to hear about each other’s humanity and of the enlightened spirit earned by a hard fought and painfully gained full life; looking for the universal clues to understanding purpose and place in the never ending everything around us all. Being comprised of flawed and mortal beings, bands (esp. rock bands) can be parables for these paths to knowledge too. In perhaps the most well known example, The Beatles success story still resonates to this day partly because of their blue-collar upbringing, their salad days in Hamburg, their controversial line-up shuffling and initial genuine love of the spotlight before everything that followed. Most successful, legendary rock bands of their day are from some variation on this theme- Sun records to garage to British Invasion to seventies arena rock to first generation punk to new wave to rap to hair metal to post modern to grunge to pop-punk to garage revival to the varied splintered scenes of today- they all fought for what they had with blinding belief in their abilities, rigid determination and intense charisma and likeability. As a fan, if you were on board from the start, that band’s rise to fame was yours to keep deeply but from a distance. Great bands know that any possibility of mass acceptance and cultural relevance comes blasting off of that original small but solid fan base. Creating a career trajectory that stands as the antithesis of pre-packaged, marketed creations of record labels and managers who will never reach the heights nor have the staying power of those who went through the bond of time and struggle.

DEVO is a band that has had a Homeric forty plus year story that could be used as a template to display the pros and cons of success. As mentioned, it’s a long one so read the book or, at least, the wikipedia page. A tale bursting with nearly five decades of fabled lore chock full of historical touchstones (political, cultural and musical), lots of Ohio, some California, a little New York City, true musical innovation, genius, inner band drama, artistic vision, major labels, rock stardom, MTV, cultural influence, Dr. Detroit, fading popularity, solo endeavors, families, kids shows, inner band peace, recognition, resurgence and staying power. DEVO are as relevant to the American story as any other mythical part of this country’s history be it Paul Bunyan, Babe the Blue Ox, Johnny Appleseed, Johnny Cash or Michael Jackson’s nose.

Even with all that said, the past twelve months have been unfairly harsh to the groundbreaking theorists behind the concept of de-evolution. The latest chapter to their story now involves death beyond that fateful day at Kent State in 1970. In just over one year’s time, former longtime drummer Alan Myers and guitarist/keyboardist/brother Bob Casale (Bob 2) both clocked out for the final time. Leaving behind a Mothersbaugh leaning three-fifths of the classic DEVO lineup in Jerry Casale, Bob Mothersbaugh (Bob 1) and Mark Mothersbaugh. Very rapidly, it seems time has caught up with DEVO and the truth of the matter is that we all now live in a world where the three remaining spudboys are all about to qualify for Medicare. With this knowledge comes introspection for both the band and the fans, a reflective experience that found solace for all involved in the form of DEVO doing what they do best- touring and reissuing. As DEVO have always been a band that embraced their past’s greatest hits (and greatest misses), this most recent inward gaze went all the way back to the big bang of their existence investigating the cosmic microwave background of the DEVO universe.

At first glance, the “Hardcore DEVO Tour 2014” and the re-release of the Hardcore DEVO Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 albums would seem to be a direct result of the band’s experience in the shadow of the reaper. However, it appears this album/tour package was already in the works before the loss of Bob 2. Their looming retirement age birthdays on the horizon were apparently enough to start the process and their surprise grief was strong enough to be a unifying force in moving ahead with their planned tour.

The two Hardcore DEVO releases, originally compiled and released on the Rykodisc label in the 1990s, have been out of print for years before this glorious 2014 reissue by the nearly flawless San Francisco based label Superior Viaduct Records (who very thoughtfully included a limited colored vinyl preorder edition to boot). The tracks on these albums, taken from their first recordings from 1974-1977, were songs that either ended up on varied, limited singles and compilations or were officially unreleased material from the same time period. As I learned on that Rykodisc reissue back in the nineties, for every song on Hardcore DEVO that was a different version of a later re-recorded “hit” such as Be Stiff, Clockout, Working In A Coal Mine, Social Fools, Soo Bawls, Satisfaction, Jocko Homo or Mongoloid, there were also equally obscure songs you now couldn’t imagine missing from their catalog like I Need A Chick, Midget, Auto Modown, Space Girl Blues, O No, Bamboo Bimbo, Goo Goo Itch or Fountain of Filth. As the majority of the songs on these albums aren’t usual DEVO live staples- the prospect of a tour based on this material had longtime (aka aged) DEVO fans keeping all the eyes on their potatoes peeled for tickets. On a rainy night in June, the silver spuds of the tri-state New York City area came out in force to claim their audio-visual prize.

Going back forty years to pick songs for your set list is an exercise in memory, of feeling the nostalgia of nostalgia. Based on the audience that night, these loyal devotees were ready to go through this temporary time warp probably even more than the band themselves. This crowd was large, wide and had the look of an AARP convention where attendees were encouraged to bring their families. Held in the former Astor Plaza Movie Theater (NYC’s largest movie house for years before being renovated into The Nokia Theater a few years ago and then just recently renamed Best Buy Theater), a set of descending escalators greeted you right after opening the front door. As you traveled downward, it clued you in that this place was going to be an almost underground cavern that had been around since the revered bad good old days of Time Square’s history. “A firetrap for sure” was my thought as the steep escalator ride ended on carpeted floors near the first of many bars in the venue. This crowd loved it though, there was an escalator after all and the 8PM start time (7PM doors, no opener) made you realize this was a show for adults by adults. Definitely catering to the after work crowd the dominant ages ranged from thirties to those who hopefully voted for Hubert Humphrey for president when they had the chance (given the other option). The only younger types in the place seemed to be in attendance as an attempt at cross-generational bonding. As the majority of the crowd had gotten there early to snag the best of the only seats in the house far off in the back behind the standing room orchestra section, it was easier than expected to find room on the floor not too far from the stage. Around the perimeter of this standing room area, middle aged bodies were leaning all over any possible open surface; walls, railings, columns, each other, even the stage itself. The scene really made the movie Logan’s Run seem more like a documentary on mercy killing than a dystopian morality tale. Perhaps a sign of de-evolution in progress?

A reserved din fell over the crowd as they sat (maybe even napped?), leaned or shifted their weight from leg to leg (if forced to stand) right through the posted start time of 8PM all the way to 8:10PM by which time the only DEVO to be heard was over the PA system in muzak form (check out the Rykodisc E-Z Listening Disc release to hear for yourself). For those standing, it looked like anticipation was turning into foot arch agony until salvation came in the form of quickly dropped lights and the rising of the curtain (this was on Broadway after all) to reveal Mark Mothersbaugh on stage in the midst of theatrically reading a newspaper that is revealed to be from circa 1972 based on the subject of his comments (Nixon, The War, etc). Gerry Casale and Bob 1 then made their way onstage along with now old new drummer Josh Freese before kicking things off with the song Mechanical Man which really set the tone for the night in terms of song selection and sound. All the previously aching and tired bodies of the audience were instantly forgotten by their suddenly stimulated brains. A long forgotten wild, youthful energized spirit circled from the stage to the audience and right back to the band in the form of non-stop post song roars of approval throughout.

The Hardcore Tour was not your average DEVO live experience, along with the specialized song selection they had also came with a production value in mind as well. When the curtain rose, the set design revealed itself to be the actual basement in Ohio USA that birthed the first sounds of this de-evolution cult. With a faux brick background, the stage was filled with guitars, a sideways facing drum set and mounds and mounds of keyboards and electronic gear. Except for a couple songs, Mark was anchored behind his many synth stacks with Gerry and Bob 1 handling the stringed instruments. Patented “moves” came flowing out of them as stage presence and visuals were always a large part of their vision from the very beginning with automaton-like keyboard strikes, guitar posing and choreographed steps and head turns. The big reveal in the middle of the show was the changing of their outfits from tour t-shirts and black pants to blue janitorial jump suits with matching hard hats which unceremoniously involved the viewing of three 60 something year old men in their boxer shorts and shoes mid outfit change. This also marked the quick change of the set design from the 1970’s basement into a more standard light based rock show.

Regardless of the backdrop behind them, DEVO played a set of songs as promised with all early material that spotlighted their more experimental nature. Yes, it was odd to see grandfatherly men perform songs with lyrics written by young minds filled with sexual frustration/fascination but that’s common these days and a big business (Rolling Stones, The Who, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, etc). Maybe it was just that Gerry Casale was reminding me of a more put together Jerry “Beaver” Mathers from one of those 80s/90s Leave It To Beaver TV reunion specials; "the Beav"/DEVO dichotomy too great for my brain to process. Bob 1 didn’t speak much during the show, mostly holding his position on stage between Gerry and Mark looking like a dead ringer for Fred Armisen (Get this guy into a Portlandia sketch!) and impressively covering most of the lead guitar duties. Josh Freese also remained silent leaving his ability to summon the spirits of Jim Mothersbaugh and Alan Myers to speak for itself. This left between song banter to mostly scripted and some off-the-cuff remarks between Gerry and Mark that had the lively back and forth rhythm of a good game of Pong. Bob 2’s absence was handled by an extra hand or two on a few songs by unnamed extras on stage left behind Mark or more overtly on stage during a spirited performance of Clockout to close out their show after Booji Boy’s beautiful performance piece that kicked off the encore section.

Definitely a unique set and a show that will be remembered by those in attendance for a long time; a fitting tribute to Bob 2 and to the DEVO journey overall by exposing their roots to the world. Mark Mothersbaugh barely picked up a guitar (Uncontrollable Urge being one of the rare exceptions) given the requirements of the material but it was a blast of noisy joy when it was in his hand. Yet, that is exactly what made this show special, it wasn’t a typical show with all the big hits in the exact version that you were accustomed. The only energy domes to be found were in the audience, in particular the guy in front of me who made it clear to all that he had found the “store” section of the DEVO website. This spud was singling along all evening (in the spirit of accuracy, night shouldn’t be used as this show was over before 10PM), fists pumping with sweat glands working overtime in his official yellow plastic DEVO jumpsuit and red plastic energy dome atop his head. While a lot of photos were taken with this guy before the show, no one went near him afterward as it looked like he had fallen asleep in a sauna wearing, well… wearing plastic from head to toe.

With the houselights now up and my phone reading 9:45PM, I was wondering what there was to do with my actual night. Everyone around me seemed to be in a good mood and thankful for the early hour and the escalators to take them back up to street level. It did seem that a lot of people used this evening to relive their past lives, as there were a fair amount of grey haired, drunk, sweaty people taking that escalator along with their more perfumed and sweatered seat seating peers. In a Hallmark moment, I even saw two teenaged sons on either side of their dad carrying him arm in arm out of the venue, as he was visibly loaded or high on something. It appears DEVO was trying to teach everyone that evening (themselves included) how to properly revisit one’s youth. While some will learn their lessons faster than others, DEVO proved to all they were the Yukon gold standard that night.